Socar and BP today signed a new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the joint exploration and exploitation of Block D230 in the northern Caspian Sea basin. The PSA was signed in London in the presence of British Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev by Rovnag Abdullayev, Chairman of SOCAR, and Bob Dudley, Chief Executive of BP Group. BP and SOCAR Turkey announced today that they have signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) to evaluate the creation of a joint venture that would build and operate a global petrochemical complex in Turkey. Azerbaijan`s Azer News Agency said on Friday that the agreement allows for „geological exploration“ of the Samsko-Kosbulak and Baiterek investment blocks in the Ustjut region, as well as the Uzbek section of the Aral Sea, which will be carried out in stages. After the ratification of PSA, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) was established to implement the agreement on behalf of foreign shareholders working in partnership with SOCAR and the Azerbaijani government. Originally, AIOC had 11 major foreign oil companies (BP, Amoco, Unocal, LUKoil, Statoil, Exxon, TPAO, Pennzoil, McDermott; Ramco; Delta Nimir) represents six countries: Great Britain, the United States, Russia, Norway, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. In accordance with an agreement initially signed in 2013, SOCAR Midstream Operations will take over as the technical operator of all dedicated SCP facilities in Azerbaijan and Georgia, BP, SOCAR and SCP said in a joint statement. Socar (the state-owned oil company of the Republic of Azerbaijan) and AIOC (the Azerbaijani International Operating Company) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (LoI) for the future development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The agreement will cover land development by 2050 and create considerable potential for resource development by mid-century.

Today, ACG produces about 620,000 barrels of oil equivalent. AIOC`s shareholders are BP, Chevron, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TPAO, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh. The LoI was signed today in Baku by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, on behalf of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Gordon Birrell, WB Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, on behalf of the AIOC Partnership. The LoI has agreed on the most important commercial conditions for the future development of the ACG field and allows the parties to conclude negotiations and conclude full-term agreements in the coming months. „We have been in talks with ACG`s foreign partners for some time,“ Abdullayev said. We will conclude full contracts in the near future. ACG is known as the „Treaty of the Century“. It is very important for Azerbaijan – it is the symbol of our oil industry….